Rolling updates on the latest developments and headlines from around the world on the COVID-19 pandemic.
By Gina Lee and Peter Nurse
09:40 AM ET: EU executive to propose trillion euro recovery plan with grants and loans
The European Commission will present next week a recovery plan that will exceed 1 trillion euros in a mix of grants and loans, the Commission's Executive Vice President Valdis Dombrovskis said on Tuesday.
Dombrovskis, speaking at a press conference after a meeting of European Union finance ministers, welcomed a proposal put forward by France and Germany on Monday for a 500 billion euro economic recovery fund to disburse grants to the regions and sectors worst hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. But he said the Commission would be bolder.
"Our ambition is not to increase the financing capacity in the range of hundreds of billions, but rather by a figure exceeding a trillion euros," he said.
09:36 AM ET: U.S. airlines offer up signs of improvement
Two top U.S. airlines said on Tuesday ticket cancellations were slowing and demand was showing some signs of improvement, with Southwest Airlines (NYSE:LUV) recording more trip reservations than cancellations so far this month.
With signs of improvement, Southwest -- with a more domestic focus than its large peers -- is adding some flights back to its network in June, which will see an overall annual capacity decline of between 45% and 55%, compared with a decline of 60% to 70% in May.
United Airlines, which has greater international exposure, said its June capacity would still be down by about 90% year-on-year, and 75% in July.
08:59 AM ET: U.S. housebuilding dropped to five-year low in April
U.S. homebuilding dropped to a five-year low in April, underlining fears that the novel coronavirus crisis would lead to the deepest economic contraction in the second quarter since the Great Depression.
Housing starts tumbled 30.2% to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 891,000 units last month, the lowest level since early 2015, the Commerce Department said on Tuesday. Data for March was revised up to show homebuilding declining to a pace of 1.276 million units instead of dropping to 1.216 million units as previously reported.
08:56 AM ET: Indonesia's capital extends social distancing measures until June 4
Indonesia's capital city Jakarta on Tuesday extended its large-scale social curbs until June 4, maintaining restrictions that limited public transportation and gatherings in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
Indonesia has allowed regional health authorities to impose their own measures if the health ministry finds sufficient evidence of a rise in coronavirus cases.
05:57 AM ET: German investor morale improves on hopes for economic turnaround
German investor sentiment improved much more than expected in May as concerns about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on Europe's largest economy eased and hopes for a recovery in second half of the year grew, a survey showed on Tuesday.
The ZEW research institute said its monthly survey showed economic sentiment among investors rose to 51.0 from 28.2 in April. Economists had expected a reading of 32.0.
05:13 AM ET: Bank of Japan to hold emergency policy meeting on Friday
The Bank of Japan said it will hold an emergency policy meeting on Friday to sign off on a new lending programme to help firms combat the fallout from the coronavirus crisis.
The emergency policy meeting will be held from 9 a.m. (0000 GMT) on Friday, the central bank said in a statement on Tuesday.
02:51 AM ET: UK jobless claims jump to highest since 1996
A measure of the number of people claiming unemployment benefits in Britain soared to its highest level since 1996 in April, the first full month of the government's coronavirus lockdown, data published on Tuesday showed.
The claimant count rose by 856,500 - the biggest ever month-on-month leap - to 2.097 million, a 69% increase, the Office for National Statistics said.
02:49 AM ET: European car sales slumped in April - ACEA
European passenger car sales slumped in April as the first full month with restrictions imposed to contain the coronavirus pandemic across the continent dragged sales to a record drop, data showed on Tuesday.
In April, new car registrations dropped by 78.3% to 292,182 vehicles in the European Union, Britain and the European Free Trade Association countries, statistics from the European Auto Industry Association showed.
02:01 AM ET: Germany reports steep drop in new virus cases
Germany recorded a steep decline in the number of new coronavirus cases Tuesday and the infection rate dropped further below the key threshold of 1.0.
There were 182 new cases in the 24 hours through Tuesday morning, bringing the total to 176,551, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. That’s the fewest since the end of March and compares with 617 on Monday. Fatalities increased by less than 100 for the fifth day in a row, rising by 41 to 8,003.
The reproduction factor of the virus, known as R-0, dropped to 0.91 on Monday from 0.94 the day before, according to the latest estimate from the Robert Koch Institute.
01:47 AM ET: Powell and Mnuchin face Senate over coronavirus response
The U.S. government's handling of its massive economic response to the coronavirus pandemic will come under scrutiny on Tuesday as Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin and Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell testify before the Senate Banking Committee.
Senators are expected to grill Mnuchin and Powell about actions still needed to keep the world's largest economy afloat and about missteps in rolling out some $3 trillion in aid so far.
01:15 AM ET: Long-lasting global recession likely, says World Economic Forum report
Risk managers expect a prolonged global recession as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, a report by the World Economic Forum showed on Tuesday.
Two-thirds of the 347 respondents to the survey - carried out in response to the outbreak - put a lengthy contraction in the global economy top of their list of concerns for the next 18 months.
Half of risk managers expected bankruptcies and industry consolidation, the failure of industries to recover and high levels of unemployment, particularly among the young.
01:12 AM ET: IMF chief says full economic recovery unlikely in 2021
The global economy will take much longer to recover fully from the shock caused by the new coronavirus than initially expected, the head of the International Monetary Fund said, and she stressed the danger of protectionism.
Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva said the Fund was likely to revise downward its forecast for a 3% contraction in GDP in 2020, but gave no details. That would likely also trigger changes in the Fund’s forecast of a partial recovery of 5.8% in 2021.
01:07 AM ET: President Donald Trump is taking hydroxychloroquine to ward off the coronavirus
US President Donald Trump has said he is taking hydroxychloroquine to ward off coronavirus, even though health officials have warned it may be unsafe.
Speaking at the White House, he told reporters he started taking the malaria and lupus medication recently.
"I'm taking it for about a week and a half now and I'm still here, I'm still here," was his surprise announcement.
There is no evidence hydroxychloroquine can fight off coronavirus, though clinical trials are under way. The Food and Drug Administration has been warning since April that the drug should not be used for that purpose because it could cause irregular heartbeats and other cardiac trauma.
00:50 AM ET: Virus cases topped 100,000 in India, and rate of growth isn't slowing
Coronavirus cases in India reached 100,000 on Tuesday, while the rate of growth of new infections showed little sign of slowing.
India reported 4,970 new cases over the past 24 hours, taking the total from the outbreak to 101,139. Deaths rose by 134 to 3,163.
11:37 PM ET: Trump threatens to cut WHO funding, withdraw U.S. membership
U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to permanently cut of funding to the World Health Organization as well as withdraw U.S. membership in a letter to the body dated Monday.
The letter gave the WHO 30 days to commit "major substantive improvements", or risk the temporary funding freeze becoming permanent and the U.S. withdrawing its membership.
10:23 PM ET: U.K. researchers to know effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccine by July
The U.K. could roll out 30 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine by September, once its effectiveness is proven.
The vaccine is being developed by Oxford University and distributed by AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), and researchers hope to see whether human trials, which started on April 24, can prevent infection by July.
10:20 PM ET: U.S. hiring rate could have hit bottom in mid-April
The job hiring rate in the U.S. could have hit bottom in mid-April, after a steady decline from early March due to the virus. But data from LinkedIn suggests that the rate has plateaued since them.
10:15 PM ET: Several U.S. states to ease lockdown measures
53 of California’s 58 counties will possibly meet criteria to move along to phase 2 of the state’s reopening, which would ease limits on some retail, dining and manufacturing businesses. Sports could possibly reopen in June without fans.
Meanwhile, New Jersey will also reopen outdoor recreational areas and business such as batting cages and golf ranges from May 22 as virus numbers continue to decline.
New York City mayor Bill de Blasio said that the city could possibly reopen by the first half of June. It has currently met three of seven health indications set by New York state government and will commence the first phase of reopening after all seven indications are met.
10:11 PM ET: New cases in Italy drop to early March levels but cases in Brazil skyrocket
Italy reported on Monday the lowest number of new cases since March 2 after a nationwide lockdown. The country reported 451 cases, compared with 675 cases just the day before.
Meanwhile, Brazil is now a fast-growing virus hotspot, accounting for 13% of global new cases in the past week. The country now has the third highest number of cases in the world, trailing the United States and Russia according to Johns Hopkins University data.